Marvel: 2010-08-16 - Wrong Time, Wrong Place
It's quite late, but in a city that never sleeps there are always people about. In this case there is a young man, bundled up in a hoodie and jeans despite the evening heat. He's got a bag in hand, folded over and tucked under his arm. But as he wanders down the sidewalk he spots something he just can't ignore. A number of girls are lined up along the edge of the road. At night in NYC that's nothing unusual. But the woman Jeremy is staring at is. He frowns as he steps closer, trying to determine if her opalescent skin and rainbow hair is an elaborate makeup job. The girls ignore him for the most part as he gets close. He doesn't have a car, doesn't look like he's got money. His nose quickly tells him what he needs to know. The strange looking woman isn't painted up. She's a mutant.. or at least a meta of some sort. Gritting his teeth he approaches her. "You don't gotta do this... there are other ways." and a conversation begins. But it isn't long before the girl's pimp shows up, wanting to know why the 'bum' is hassling his girls. A demand is given, the gold chained man tells Jeremy to pay up or get lost. Things quickly go down hill from there as a heated argument begins, a shove and a show of power by the pimp. See he's got a gun! he's not afraid of any freak! Unfortunately for the pimp the feral isn't afraid of guns, and Jeremy strikes back. Perhaps a little too hard. The man goes flying into the storefront window of a bar. The man's friends stand up, and begin to rush outside. Pete Wisdom was sitting at a curb, a bottle in one hand and his shoes laced together hung from around his neck. He gives a loud cough, before groaning out, "Its a sad and beautiful world," before lifting the bottle to his lips and taking a swig. Then another loud, hacking cough, and he sets the bottle aside, before lighting a cigarette. He hears the conversation, but pays it no mind... and then the demand of the pimp to the bum. And then the bum smacks the pimp, who goes flying across the street into a bar. "You know, I'm willing to let the gun and the defenestration fly but that's about it," comes a voice from above. Looking up will find the costumed hero known as Kinetic slowly floating down to put himself between the women and the trouble he anticipates. "How about you guys head back inside to finish slowly poisoning yourselves," he nods towards the men coming out of the bar. "And you run along?" he glances at the bum. He'd just been passing by when he noticed all this and now he's decided to get involved. The men in the bar are not too thrilled about seeing their pal so hurt, but they hesitate when they spot the hovering super hero in the sky. The girls look at each other, the men and it seems they are unsure of what they want to do. Run or stay. The opal colored woman frowns, biting at her lip. Jeremy snorts, his eyes narrowed. His lower face for the moment is still hidden by the scarf. "So now you show up? To what? Protect these idiots? Why not protect them huh?" he shouts up, gesturing towards the girls. " He tries to grab the opal girl's hand "C'mon.. I'll get you to some place safe .." and it doesn't look like she's going to protest but the pimp's posse? They do. "Hey, that's Robbie's gal.. she owes him.. she ain't going any where!" And a large bouncer type guy steps up. He's apparently a member of Gold's Gym the man is very buff and at least 6ft tall. This is when Pete looks up. Hey, there's a flying dude. The Englishman blinks his bloodshot eyes, giving a loud snort, hocking, and then spitting into the street before he rises up, stumbling lightly. He's not doing anything just yet... but if shit hits the fan... well, he'll try to disperse it. "If you'll look at where I am, you'll see I am protecting the ladies, sir. Now how about you stop causing trouble?" Kinetic replies, glancing at Jeremy. When the other mutant tries to leave with the mutant woman, Kinetic reaches out with his powers to place a telekinetic barrier in front of the fleeing pair...and another to keep the big guy from the gym from going after them. "Where are you taking her?" he asks, concerned. Jeremy growls as the force appears, bumping against it. "Why they $#@! do you care?! You only came outta the sky when the ruckus started.. if you really cared about metakind you woulda done somethin' before then! You wanna play superhero an be a star in the media, fine..I don't give a rat's @$$.. but don't get in the way when I t--" but he doesn't get any further with his comments because the pimp has managed to stagger to his feet. He draws his pistol and shoots. "No one takes my girls, especially not no freak!" blam! blam blam! The feral is hit once, but the girl shouts, throwing herself into the line of fire, or maybe she just ran the wrong way. No matter the reason, in a split second she falls to the ground. Not every mutant is bullet proof. And now the man in the rumpled suit is running. Running surprisingly fast for somebody under the influence. Nothing superhuman, but fast enough. As he brushes past the pimp, a hand lashes out towards the pimp's gun hand, and a flash of orange light. He's attempting to directly sever the pimp's hand with a hot-knife. There will be pain. After the shock of course. And he topples, trying to cover the opalescent girl with his own frame. Lucky for him, he's wearing an armored vest underneath his suit. "Stop this now n' call an ambulance, Kinetic!" Pete slurs in a shout. "I'm not omnipresent, jerk. I had to get here before I could do anything," Kinetic snaps at Jeremy. "And I could care less about the media," he adds. He's too distracted by Jeremy and keeping the thugs at pay to stop the pimp in time. For a moment he just freezes as he senses the girl get shot. Pete rushing into motion likely saves the pimp from far more pain than just a severed hand and the teen pauses again. He jumps when ordered, finally recognizing the British guy. He starts glowing with his telekinetic aura, almost daring the remaining men to try something as he uses the Avengers comm system to call an ambulance. The men are the least of the heroes worries. Being struck by at least one of the bullets and then angered by the girl's falling, the horrific screams of the pimp as his hand is severed, Jeremy looses it. With a roar he charges into the bar, claws out, teeth bared. Within seconds the feline mutant has found his way around the invisible barriers and is attacking. The remaining girls run for it, crossing the road as they scream. The various people in the bar do a combination of things. Run as the shots are fired, while some hit the deck, hiding under the tables. Others draw their own guns ans start to fire as the mutant goes on the rampage. A few even open fire on Kinetic and Pete. Pete Wisdom does his best to keep the girl covered. He puts both hands together and splays them out, fingers moving as he sets a set of hotknives in motion in a swirling mass of hypnotic orange light. The rounds that come for him and the girl simply disintegrate. Pete's on the defensive, but this feral mutant's out of control, and is likely a liability to harm regular people as well as these pathetic, armed lowlifes. Unfortunately for Pete, it takes most of his concentration to throw out this 'shield' of sorts, so its up to the Avenger to save the day. Bullets that come Kinetic's way just stop in mid air and fall to the pavement a few seconds later. Growling, he sends telekinetic shockwaves at the men that shoot his way. He glances back at Pete to make sure he's okay and then to the rampaging feral. "Hey!" he calls, reaching out with his powers and trying to yank Jeremy back his way by the neckscruff. Unless paramedics come soon, the mutant girl isn't going to have much of a chance. Pete's knives keep her from any more damage, and himself too. Inside the bar the telekinetic energy foils the pimp's posse's guns, their bullets are thrown back and quite a few of the people land onto their backs. The feral isn't thrown, mostly because he was already on all fours. In his mouth? The pimp's leg and the man is screaming in agony once again. Even as Jeremy is hoisted up, he thrashes and holds onto the man, unwilling to give up his prize. He may be held but he hasn't gone limp. Pete Wisdom shakes his hands as the hotknife shield dissipates. It seems the major portion has stopped, at least for the moment, and Pete gently tries to lift the girl into his arms and move her behind a parked car for cover. Then he shrugs out of his jacket and tears off his shirt, not caring about broken buttons or the like. He quickly looks the girl over, trying to find the entry, and possibly exit wound. He can't risk cauterizing due to possible internal bleeding, but he will try to use his shirt as a dressing... if he can find the wound. Kinetic scowls and rushes into the bar. Keeping a careful hold on Jeremy, he reaches out with more telekinetic energy to try prying his jaw open. "Let him go!" the Avenger demands. The girl has been struck twice, once in the shoulder and once in the torso. She's unconscious but Pete is able to find the wounds easily enough to apply pressure. The other thugs in the bar start to run away as the heroes attend to the mutants. Jeremy is still fighting, which really isn't all that surprising. Despite still being held in the air, the feral seizes the man with his arms, ripping and clawing even while his jaws are forced open. The man yelps, pleading for Kinetic to save him. But at least his leg is now free! Pete Wisdom might even be able to remove the bullet from her shoulder - it might be complicated, but its entirely possible. As for a shot in the torso... he's no good there. But in the midst of this, hands smeared in blood, and shirtless aside from the armor vest, he gently tries to prop the girl up and put his coat over her, to keep her warm to prevent shock from setting in. And then he whips out his cell phone, smearing a little blood on the side of his face as he brings it to his ear, and calls 911. Sure, Kinetic called an ambulance too, but Pete needs to do his part as well. Kinetic lets out an annoyed noise. Jeremy has him annoyed and silently ranting about his own people again. "Knock it off, fuzzball!" he demands, trying to bind Jeremy into a spread-eagled position in the air away from the pimp. The feral is no slouch but in comparison he just can't fight the telekinetic power of the hero. The pimp is dropped and unless caught will hit the ground. He may loose that leg after such a severe mauling. Growling and roaring the feline continues to struggle in the air and in the far distance the sound of ambulances can be heard by human ears. As Pete tends to the girl she half wakes, gasping before falling silent again. The operator at 911 informs him that the bus is close, and tries to guide him through helping the girl with the blood loss until the emts arrive. Applying pressure where told and trying to keep her calm, Pete does his best to tell the girl that she's going to be alright. Kinetic doesn't bother to catch the pimp. He's not that sympathetic to the man. The strain of holding Jeremy up shows in the form of blood trickling from the hero's nose and he draws back a fist. "It's guys like you that make things hard for the rest of us!" he snaps before throwing a punch at Jeremy in attempt to knock him out. The TK boosted punch is enough to knock the tiger like fellow out, and he at last goes still. The ambulance soon pulls up and the EMT rush out to help Pete with the hurt girl. That is until they realize she isn't merely human. One of the men looks disgusted but after a poke from his coworker begrudgingly gets to work. Police arrive a few moments afterwards, with demands to know what is going down. Pete Wisdom demands full and strong to accompany the girl - he falls into a swift lie that he's her uncle. Sure, he's inebriated - very inebriated. But the story seems convincing enough - he was out drinking and saw his niece trussed up like some hussy. He doesn't care that she's a mutant, she still doesn't deserve to be a whore. Hopefully the EMTs will let him accompany her in the ambulance and to the hospital. Kinetic sags in place slightly after the punch, rubbing his fist. Hitting Jeremy hurt a bit more than he thought it would. Once he hears the police, Kinetic reaches out with his powers to float Jeremy and the pimp outside. The pimp is offered to the EMTs before the hero heads over to the police to hand over Jeremy and explain what happened. FTB